Most Washoe County offices will be closed Monday, January 21, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, including Administrative offices, Social Services, Libraries, Courts, Attorney's Office, Washoe County Sheriff's Office, Regional Animal Services and Health District. The County Clerk at the Washoe County Complex on Ninth St. and Wells Ave., in Reno will remain open throughout the holiday from 8 a.m. to midnight for the issuance of marriage licenses, fictitious firm names and notary bond filings, as well as property tax payments for the Treasurer’s Office.

Emergency Alert System

For information on what you should do during the response phase of an emergency, listen to the Emergency Alert System (EAS). EAS is the new Emergency Alert System adopted by the Federal Communications Commission to replace the old Emergency Broadcast System and is a universal tool to route emergency messages to the public swiftly and efficiently.

Civil alert emergency radio. A civil alert emergency receiver is a radio receiver that you have in your home, business, or public facility to warn and inform you of a local emergency event or major disaster. This receiver will alert you of a local emergency 24 hours a day. You can purchase these radios at most electronic shops or on the internet.

Radio station for civil alert emergency radio.

Your civil alert emergency radio will need to be tuned into KKOH-AM 780 which is "primary relay station number one" for Northern Nevada. It will receive and relay any alerts or tests to you.

Emergency Alert System tests. The Emergency Alert System is tested weekly and monthly. If your emergency alert receiver is activated during a real emergency.

1. Tune into your local news radio or TV station for latest breaking news.

2. Do not use your telephone or cellular phone unless it is an emergency.

4. Listen for specific instructions from your emergency alert receiver such as take shelter, close doors and windows, etc.

Amber Alert

Over the last several years, various state and local entities across the country have established child abduction alert systems in response to the growing number of child abduction cases across the country. Such systems, often referred to as the Amber Plan, represent voluntary partnerships between law enforcement agencies and local broadcasters in which law enforcement agencies can quickly activate notification systems through the resources of local media outlets whenever verified cases of child abductions occur.

Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, to air a description of the missing child and suspected abductor. In each area where such systems exist, local officials believe that quickly distributing descriptive information regarding the child abducted as well as the alleged perpetrator of the crime is absolutely critical to the timely location of the child and the apprehension of the perpetrator.
When a child abduction alert is activated according to an Amber Plan they are referred to as Amber Alerts.